Levels and Systems of Employment in the Japanese Retail Trade: A Comparison with France

Jean Gadrey, Florence Jany-Catrice and Thierry Ribault

Cambridge Journal of Economics, 2001, vol. 25, issue 2, 165-84

Abstract: The Japanese retail trade generates considerably more jobs than its French counterpart, and it manages these jobs in a very different way. The aim of this paper is to present both an economic explanation of the comparative levels of the retail employment in both countries and a socio-economic comparative interpretation of the corresponding employment systems. The first part of the paper presents the main differences between the two countries in respect of employment levels in retailing. In the second part, we put forward a set of economic explanations for these differences. In the third part, more qualitative differences in employment systems and, in particular, labour segmentation and flexibility, are analysed against the background of family structures and norms and of certain institutional features at national and industry level. This final part provides an opportunity for a reassessment of the concepts that have traditionally underpinned segmentation and dual labour market theories. Copyright 2001 by Oxford University Press.

Date: 2001
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